No Angel
by TwistedTelepath
Summary: {Sequel to The Dark Maiden} Eva Badica's back, alive and biting. After over five-hundred years, she's found her place, secured with a loyal group of friends and the past behind her. However, with her new mortal status and a familiar threat coming back for revenge, can she protect it all? {Season 2; Benny/OC}
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'm back~! And I've brought this new sequel with me! It's been a while, guys, but I haven't lost my touch. If anything, it's gotten better by at least 23%. ****I promise you guys a kickass follow-up to "The Dark Maiden." If it isn't kickass, you guys can probably beat me with a virtual stick. And I'm sorry I haven't brought this to you sooner. My drive was taken over by "Frozen" hype and I was spending a majority of my time working on fics for that and stalking Tumblr accounts associated with it.**

**Excuse my flashbacks in these two chapters, they're all over the place.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own My Babysitter's a Vampire. Aw well.**

* * *

><p><em>Prologue<em>

_January • 2012_

_The Night of the Dance_

_You'd think a girl would wake up resurrected from the state of being undead to peace and quiet. Well, think again._

_When I woke up, I heard Rose and Benny were having a screaming match. I didn't see them, though, but _damn_._

_"She's not dead!" she shouted._

_"It's been thirty minutes, she's dead!" he screamed._

_"It's almost like you _want_ your girlfriend to be dead!"_

_"Of course I don't want her dead! I'm not like you!"_

_Rolling my eyes, I grunted as I struggled to get up. My legs were a little limp and numb. I grabbed onto a wooden chair next to me for support. I lifted myself up, realizing that I was still wearing my boots. I unzipped them and took them off, feeling a little better._

_The world was a little fuzzier than normal. My senses were intact, but something was bothering them. I had a massive headache, too, but nothing a pill couldn't fix. I did a body check. The cut on my arm was replaced by a faint scar. At least my healing wasn't out of whack. I was still wearing my dance dress. It had a tear in the sleeve, which I was guessing was from the fight with Jess._

_I growled, not too loudly for the sake of making my headache worse. Fuck! I totally fucked up. I could've killed the bastard, but I was too caught up in all my emotions, my rage. If I killed him, he wouldn't have . . . he wouldn't have bitten Ethan . . ._

_I was starting to remember what happened. If I killed him, Sarah would've still been a fledgling. I could only imagine going to school on Monday and having her beat the shit out of me with her new strength, and now that I was mortal, God knows if I would have the strength to fight back. And who knows if Erica would've beat me up for the hell of it, too. So . . . I was planning on avoiding school on Monday._

Come on, you can't just run from your problems_, I thought, still feeling regretful. _You're just going to have to call them and find out if they want to tear you into pieces. No sweat.

_Getting back to the body check . . . Okay, a scar, a tear, what else? My skin was a little pale, but maybe that was just from hunger. And speaking of hunger, I felt a pang in my stomach._

_I left the room, supporting myself with the walls of the hallway. I was feeling a little lightheaded. I could barely keep myself upright coming down the stairs._

_Slowly and nervously, I came into the living room. The first thing I noticed was a powder-blue tux jacket on the armchair. I smiled a little. That silly, retro tux._

_"Eva!" I looked up, alert, maybe looking a little crazy. Benny beat Rose to hugging me. At first, I was my usual self, feeling weird with affection. But then I melted into it, wrapping my arms around him tightly, resting my head on his shoulder. "God, I thought you were dead!"_

_"I'm very much alive," I croaked out, dragging my head out from his neck to face him. His beautiful hazel-green eyes were bleary and a little red. Was he crying? I wiped a tear off his cheek with my thumb. "Come on, you weren't that scared, were you?"_

_He laughed a little, nodding. "A little."_

_As I was about to kiss him, I noticed Rose in the back looking sheepish. Her face was worn-down, her hair was a mess, and her skin was paler. I struggled a little to loosen Ben's grip on me. I walked toward her carefully, holding my wrist. God, what could I say? I couldn't be snarky. She had just risked her life for me. She gave me her mortality, her humanity, maybe even her fertility._

_Before I could say anything, she grabbed me, possibly holding me tighter than Benny did. Unlike him, her tears dripped into my neck and on my chest and soaked into my clothes. I held onto her, getting a little emotional myself, possibly the first time I cried in how long. I hated seeing her upset. As much I played and joked with her, she _was_ my best friend. Maybe one of the only friends I had._

_"God, I'm so sorry!" she said, coughing._

_"What are you sorry for?" I asked, tears rolling down my cheeks._

_"All I was thinking about was myself! I-I should've been thinking about you and your health and how you would handle—"_

_"Shut up. You did what anybody would have done. You have to put yourself first, remember?" She sucked her teeth, letting go of me. "Are you okay?"_

_She nodded, shutting her already glossy eyes. "I-I think I should call it a night. I'll let you guys talk a-and stuff. We'll talk in the morning." With that, she left, wiping her tears with her hands._

_I turned on my heels to Benny awkwardly, my eyes studying __the floor. I tried to think of what to say next. Before I could say it, however, he hugged me again. My face was buried in his dress shirt and even though the reek of his cologne threatened to suffocate me, I wrapped my arms around him gingerly, trying to stare up at him._

_"You really scared me, Eves," he said._

_"I know, and I'm sorry," I told him, leaning my cheek on his shoulder. I sighed. "How's Ethan?"_

_"Well, he was kind of down, considering what happened, but I'm sure he'll be fine by Sunday." I stared at my boyfriend blankly. "_What?_" he whined. "I know him."_

_"This isn't something that's going to be cured by playing Minecraft," I said softly. "Remorse is a bitch. Trust me, I know. Speaking of which, I should swing by him quick . . . just to see how he's doing-" I broke free from the hug just for a split-second before Benny pulled me back in protectively. I'd admit, it was really attractive, but it wasn't really the time to be getting turned on._

_"You're not going anywhere. It can wait until the morning. You need to rest," he told me._

_"But-"_

_"No. Eva, you just came back from the _dead_. You need to sleep. Heck, when's the last time you've slept?!"_

_"Not counting a couple weeks ago? Uh . . . sixty . . . seventy years, I guess." His eyes widened. "I'm a vampire, remember, I don't go around taking naps and cuddling up with my pillow."_

_"Come on."_

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

_September • 2012_

_Eight Months Later_

"What do you see?"

"I don't see anything," I replied. "Because nothing's happening."

Tonight, I was busy. It was close to eleven at night, and I was at Benny's house. Ever since my conversion from immortal vamp to mortal vamp, these bizarre side effects would pop up randomly, mostly hallucinations and vivid flashbacks in the form of daydreams, even though the second side effect wasn't new to me. I guess my past pressured me to be nostalgic at times. That and possibly an additional surge of the five-hundred-year-old power I possessed. So, I told Benny, who was set on helping me out, not only because I was his girlfriend but because he wanted to prove that he was great at magic.

"I can't help you if you're so pessimistic," he said, rolling his eyes. "Let me look for another spell."

We were in his room. Like any other stereotypical boy, he was messy and unorganized, but I could care less because I barely came into his room, let alone his house, often. His grandma subtly made sure of that. I sat opposite from him on his bed and he flipped through his spell book. He had gotten better over the months, but that didn't mean he stopped fucking up. He just fucked up less often. Overall, he changed a lot. The thing I was digging the most was his new haircut, especially since I had pushed him towards getting it. That and his sexy deeper voice. It was much more entertaining to have your boyfriend whisper things in your ears with a deep post-puberty voice than a cracked, puberty voice.

"How many things did you bookmark?" I asked, eyeing the colorful mess of highlighter marks and paper.

"A lot of prank-related stuff. Weird stuff. Random stuff. I'm pretty sure ten percent of it is useful." He slapped a page. "Okay so this spell should activate when I touch you, and you're supposed to see a short blur of, er, something. Tell me what you see, okay?"

I nodded. He recited the spell in Latin, then touched my hand. A shock ran through me and everything went black for a minute.

My sight came back, and I saw me. It was weird. I was wearing a cliche black, hooded cloak, and there was blood caked around my mouth. I was looking apathetically at a pile of black ashes cupped in my blood-stained hands. My eyes, once gold a long time ago, flashed icy-blue. Yeah, I knew that all vampires had gold eyes.

The reason behind that was complicated. The event that was taking place was my mentor's, Andrey, death. He was murdered by the Council in 1436, ten years after I had been turned, because of his plan to pose a rebellion against them. My punishment, since they thought I was too valuable to them to die, was to serve them for the rest of my immortal life. I had two days to accept. In those two days, I contacted one of Andrey's witches and had her make me a spell that would help me embody Andrey's spirit - both his ruthless, cunning, manipulative personality and his trusting, deceiving façade - and the telltale side effect was my blue vampiric eyes. Centuries later, I made Jesse do the same spell, so that we would be an invincible team.

Look at where we were now.

The flashback ended, pulling me back in reality. I sucked in a deep breath, looking back at Benny.

"Uh . . . it was 1436. The Vampire Council had just sent their goons to kill my mentor. I was angry. I wanted revenge. I made a plan," I explained.

"What was the plan?"

I paused to think. Everything else was blurry. "I-I dunno. Everything's cloudy after that. Here, try again." I pushed my hand towards him, but he jerked back like I had some kind of contagious disease.

"Listen, it's getting late. You need sleep now, remember?"

"Only five hours worth," I mumbled.

"Still." He gave me a stern look. I huffed. Since when was he one to be responsible? I got up, heading towards the window. I jumped out, sticking the landing on the ground. "I love you," I heard him say.

Suddenly I felt horrible. I just walked out on Benny and acted like a completely ungrateful bitch and he still mustered the courage to say 'I love you.' I barred my teeth, looking nervously back at his window. He had turned off the lights. I kicked my ankle.

"Get your shit together, Badica," I whispered to myself, my glance now at the grass. I sighed, then raced off full-speed home.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath<strong>_


	2. The Trial

**Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own MBaV.**

* * *

><p><em>I. The Trial<em>

_S2E1: Welcome Back Dusker_

Apparently, while I was bitching out last night, next door, Sarah had decided to pop up out of nowhere from a nearly six-month absence and not acknowledge us. I was just hearing about it in the morning. Although my mind wasn't completely there—I was focusing more on what I would get to eat later since my hunger was kicking my ass lately—I tried to pay attention the best I could.

"So she comes back after all this time," I said, still comprehending the story, "and only visits _you_? I don't know why you're not über glad she's back."

"Of course I'm glad she's back," Ethan said. I tagged along with the boys to their lockers out of boredom of waiting for the bell to ring. "But, I don't know . . . She seemed different, and-" Out of nowhere, Benny thrusted his hands out, aiming a burst of magic into the opened locker. Ethan scowled, "Okay, c'mon. Cut it out."

"I was just testing something," he said. "Now. I was trying to summon chicks and then . . ." I eyed the baby chick that Ethan pulled out from his locker. "Awww."

"Just focus from now on, Benny," Ethan advised, looking serious. "I'm worried about her."

"Hey," I said, touching his arm, a little hesitant in case it would give him a vision. "She's probably just coping, or something. Maybe she's traumatized. The process is pretty rough."

Yeah, yeah, I went on and on and on about how great being a vampire was, even on the days it sucked, but truth was, my first days as a full vampire were full-on hell. I had to admit, _I _was worried for Sarah, too, despite our rocky past. I realized she was a great friend to me, and I couldn't help but feel remorse for everything that happened on the night of the dance.

"She'll need time to adjust," Benny added, though it was more directed at the chick telling from his baby voice. I rolled my eyes, wrapping my arm around his waist. He did the same for me.

I heard laughing not to far away. I looked up, zoning out from what Benny was trying to say. Sarah, her arm linked with Erica's, was passing by, and man, did I have to do a double-take. Her hair wasn't brown with bangs anymore. It was darker and straighter with a middle part. Her fashion sense had changed drastically too, a little more boho and stylish. However, she was still, without a doubt, short as hell, which I was pleased to notice. I was the tallest girl in our little clique standing at around 5'8, that being without heels.

"So then the fledgling says, 'My dentist is the one with the cavities now,'" she told Erica. They laughed. She stole my joke, but hey, I was happy she was back.

"Trauma all gone, vampires happy-happy," Benny said, petting the annoying chick. You had no idea how much I wanted to crush it for the sake of it shutting up.

Erica smiled. "Look who I bumped into," she beamed.

"Care for a welcome back chick?"

"Aw, Benny, he's so cute," Sarah gushed. "He'll make a yummy snack later."

The boys' smiles dropped quickly. "What?" I asked.

"It's a _joke_!" She touched my shoulder playfully. "Eva, I don't remember you being so serious."

"I'm not. But I don't remember you being so comical." She eyed me. "I didn't say it was a _bad _joke, now did I?" She smiled. I pulled her into a hug. The bell sounded off. "That's us. Even immortals still have to go to class."

We broke our hug off. I promised to catch up with the girls later before they left. I felt a strange pang in my chest after the immortals comment, though. I knew Sarah didn't know about my situation, but I couldn't help but feel like she was rubbing her newfound immortality in my face.

Strange . . .

"Yeah, she is different," I said, still feeling off. "But it's kind of good. Who knows? Maybe New Sarah will grow on us."

"Yeah, maybe. I'll catch up with you guys later." I glanced at him in confusion as he went off in the opposite direction, smirking.

"Okay, what . . ." Benny was grinning at me. I rolled my eyes. "You scared him off, didn't you?"

"What? He was being a cock-block, I acknowledged it, we made arrangements."

Rolling my eyes again, I let him kiss me. He wrapped his arms around my hips, deepening our kiss. Another thing I noticed different about him? His sudden sexual, hormonal urges. Most of the time we were alone, he wanted to make-out and 'canoodle.' Don't get me wrong, I _loved_ every second of it. I loved how he pressed his hands on my hips and kissed my collarbone and made my skin grow warm, a feeling I hadn't come in contact with in such a long time. And he always had this fixation with running his fingers through my hair.

All of that was happening right now. And it probably would've went on for a solid two minutes if Erica hadn't come back to interrupt.

She caught my attention by clearing her throat. I broke the kiss and stared at her dully past Benny's shoulder. She stood there, hip cocked, arms crossed, impatient. I sighed, backing away from him and going to her.

"Everybody's a cock-block today," I heard him grumble.

"How old are you again?" Erica asked me.

"Seriously? I was busy." She groaned. "Almost six-hundred," I said in a more hushed tone.

"Are you good at glamouring?"

I scoffed. "How the hell do you think I passed freshman year?"

"Good." She grabbed my hand and sped off with me somewhere else. When we stopped, I was looking at two legs squirming in a waste bin. Sarah was next to me and Erica was on my right. Jesus Christ. "We have a situation."

"Ah, new vampire urges," I sighed wistfully. "They grow up so fast!"

The legs made it out of the bin and now stood an angry, dirty man with glasses and a formerly nice tux. "Young lady, not only are you expelled, you should be _arrested_!" he growled.

"Sir, calm down," I said, making my way towards him. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Look into my eyes, relax . . ." I saw the blue flecks of my vampire eyes reflecting on his glasses. "She didn't do anything. You tripped. She was trying to help you."

"She was trying to help me . . ." he whispered, looking blankly at me.

"Go back to your office and enjoy some coffee, Mister . . ."

"Stern," he answered.

"Right. Mr. Stern, go back to your office and relax. You deserve it." The glow vanished and his consciousness came back. "Right. What are all you staring at? Go back to class," he ordered. He walked away.

"Thanks, Eves," Sarah said, exasperated. "I owe you one."

"Let me walk you to class, you know, to make sure that you don't strangle anyone next." She scoffed. "_What_? A little after I turned full, I went on this rampage to kill the girls in my village who always made fun of me. It was wrong, but it was _so _fun."

We departed from Erica and started walking down the hallway, recollecting old times and talking about what we did over the summer. Well, she didn't tell me much about hers. All she told me was that her vacation was bittersweet. I didn't interrogate her throughly, knowing that she would tell me what I needed to know when she was ready. I couldn't say the same for myself.

"So. You and Benny," she said, smirking. "I _never _thought you guys would last so long, no offense."

I laughed. "Me neither."

"I mean, you guys are so different. And the whole vampire-human thing . . . But, you make it work. It's cool." I smiled, burying my nervousness. I didn't want to act suspicious.

"Yeah, who—" My attention went to down the hall. Two guys, one with a freshly shaved head, light tan skin, and a sculpted face and the other a little on the heavy sided with fedora, both dressed in black, were making their way toward us. I could smell them. Vampires. _Yay. _We stopped and hissed at them. They hissed back.

"Long time no see, Eva," one said. I stared at him harder. Aw shit, I knew these guys.

"Joshua," I scowled. "Ian."

"Where are you going with the little one?"

"Now is _not _a good time, unless you enjoy watching your arms grow back," Sarah threatened. Whoa, feisty. I liked it.

Ian chuckled, folding his arms. Joshua continued, shaking off her threat. "See, here's the problem. Vampire-on-vampire attacks. Two more just last night; same night you came back to town. Your brothers and sisters on the Council are . . . concerned."

"What? Just because we have the same teeth we're family? No thanks." She began to walk off. I followed her lead, not wanting to reconnect with the two. Last time I tried to catch up with a vampire I turned, it didn't end well, and the blood drive incident was proof.

"Fine. Maybe the one we want is your little vampire-hunter boyfriend." Ian chuckled again. It seemed like that was the only reason he was there.

Sarah turned and ran back, hissing at him, gold eyes full-glow. Joshua's eyes mirrored hers, and he managed to be collected. Too much like Jesse.

"Leave him alone! Leave _me _alone! Unless you want to see some vampire-on-vampire attack right now!" she growled. She started to storm off. "And, he's not my boyfriend!" she said before going completely. I decided to give her some space, knowing how boiling her temper must've been at the moment. I stared back at the two. Joshua had to use his hand to block Ian from going for her.

"Forget her." Joshua faced me. "You can tell her when you see her again that we're going after the geek. The brainy one, not the magic one.

"Good," Ian said, the first words I heard him speak in a while. "The magic one kind of creeps me out."

"You best leave both of them alone like she said," I said. "_Especially _the creepy magic one."

"Now why's that?"

"He's my boyfriend." They looked at my funnily. "What? I didn't bite him, okay?! And he's not under glamour or compulsion or anything." I scowled at them harder. I wondered in the back of my mind why I was still there.

"Aw, you do have a heart," Joshua teased. "And it beats for the geek." Ian chuckled. I threw a dart-like glare at him. "That's not like you. I recall a more cold-hearted Eva. _Way_ before hiding amongst humans and turning Jesse. You were a heart-ripper, remember? You loved the screams, you loved the torture. Practically Queen of the Council if it wasn't for Anastasia. Then after the 1600s, you got soft. Now you've hit rock-bottom."

I snarled at them, tightening my fists. They laughed, then walked away. I breathed, trying to cool down. I needed to find Ethan and warn him.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

While going to classes and on my conquest to find Ethan before he was going to be grinded into nothing, I bumped into Rose. If Sarah was different, Rose was an entirely new person. She dyed her hair dark brown and had blue streak in it; she didn't curl the ends anymore, they were straight-out flat. She was awfully moody and had lost her appetite. We didn't hang out often anymore, we only saw each other at the house and at school. Other times, she'd be off with Rory doing God knows what. It wasn't that she was mad at me, or so she claimed, but she wanted a love and care that a friend couldn't support. They didn't have sex or anything (you bet I'd know and take care of both of them if they did), but then again, I had no idea. So, our conversation was brief.

"So, last time I saw Ben he was being trampled by Duskers," she told me on her way to Biology. "I think he was bargaining this coffee cup or whatever for cash. I didn't ask, I was too scared for an answer."

"Mhmm," I said, distraught. It may have seemed cold, but I had tried so hard to get Rose to open up to me, but she had almost completely shut me out over the summer, and I didn't know why. But I'd give her time, I wouldn't push her into telling me what was up. "So how's your day going?"

"Pretty cool. Besides my algebra test tomorrow. After school I think I'll get some herbs and spices at the store and experiment with some potions or something. Interested?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. What the hell? "Um, sure. I'll watch and . . . stuff."

"Okay. Cool. See you." She walked off.

I sighed, covering my eyes with my hands. I'd have to deal with this later. I had something a little more important to deal with, say, my friend getting eaten alive.

I rounded the corner of the next hallway, which was nearly empty. I sniffed out my two vamps and followed the trail to across the school. I got lucky, too, 'cause they were just getting to Ethan. I wasn't too late.

Joshua had snatched his phone. I couldn't see completely. "Things are about to get a whole lot rougher, little hunter." Josh hissed at him, then Ian. I eyed the janitor's closest nearby. I thieved the broom, broke it in half, and stalked behind them, waiting for a moment of weakness.

"Whoa! You're _real_? Look, I'm no hunter, but some of my best friends are vampires," Ethan said nervously. "Eva?" I smiled a bit, hearing that he called me his best friend, er, one of them. "Erica? Rory?"

"Wait, Rory's your friend?" Joshua asked, vamping down. "And you admit it?" He laughed. "Dude, that's just messed _up_!" He and Ian laughed a little more. I would laugh, too, not out of spite but playfully. "The Council knows you're in on the recent attacks. And they want to see you suffer . . . in person."

"Uh . . ." Ethan fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a #2 pencil. "Stay back! I don't hunt vampires, but I have staked in self-defense!"

I decided a blow in the back wouldn't cut it, so I zoomed in front of them, by Ethan's side. He did a double-take. "Oh, hey _best friend_. Just thought I'd make myself known." I hissed at the two, but once I looked up fully, they looked horrified. I knew I wasn't as scary as I used to be, so I knew something was up.

"Yeah. This is a _number two pencil_! _Two_! You know what that's for? Should I draw you a picture?!" He jabbed the pencil by them. "Huh? Huh?!"

"Dude, I'm pretty sure they're not scared of your stupid pencil," I said. I smelt something. "What _is _that? It reeks." I looked behind me. I yelped, seeing the cloud of murky green mist make its way by me. I jumped out of the way.

"There's something behind me, isn't there?"

"You _think_?" I asked, my back against the wall of lockers. Hey, the thing was pretty creepy.

Ethan tried to fend off the mist with his silly pencil, but it ignored him and went from Joshua. It crawled up his nostrils. His eyes gleamed the same color as it. He hissed and went for Ian. The two fought in the corner as we watched in horror, well, him in horror, me in awe. Before we knew it, both were on the floor, either unconscious or dead already. I went back to him, feeling silly for being a weak in a time of distress, but could you blame me? When a freaky mist comes out of nowhere and goes for a vampire, you don't just stand there and gawk.

"You should have one of these in handy next time," I said, passing him one of the broken broom sticks.

"Ahuh . . ." The mist drifted away. In the sound of a swoop, Sarah came in the hall, clutching onto her bag strap.

"Whoa . . ." she breathed. "Looks like I'm not the only one with anger issues."

"I-I didn't do anything!" The two bodies disintegrated.

"It's true," I said, backing him up. "We didn't touch them. This smelly mist came after one, possessed him, and made him attack the other. It was freaky."

"I'm surprised you didn't tear them up," Sarah commented smugly.

"Hey, I'm not like that anymore . . . somewhat. I'm sneaky about it now." She snickered. I ignored her. "Seriously. There's a green mist out for vampires and we're just here gawking about it. We need to assemble the team and investigate."

"Erica's busy pursuing her Dusk fantasy. Can you get Rose?"

"I think nowadays she trusts Rory more than she trusts me. So, she'll come with him. But I don't want to deal with all that . . . _awkwardness_ . . ." I shuddered dramatically.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I'll get them, then." She sped off.

"I'll find Ben. For now, stay safe until one of us gets back." He gave me a thumbs-up. I turned on my heels and ran to where I figured my boyfriend would be—the cafeteria.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

My girlfriend instincts proved correct. Without explanation, I grabbed Benny and gave a very vague recap of the meet-and-greet you could say we had earlier with the mist and the vamps. You could tell I didn't do a very good job as informer because he kept asking questions that required me to clarify. Once we were back in the hall where it all went down, Sarah was there, no show of Vampero and Juliet (remind me never to make a bad pun like that one ever again).

"They're coming," Sarah said. I nodded.

"Why are they so steamed at Ethan?" Benny asked her. See what I mean? My gossip skills were getting weaker and weaker.

"They think he's after them. _First_, two vamps were attacked in his backyard, then two more tried to pick on him, and they were taken out, too," she explained. "I'm really worried about him."

I stood there awe-struck. "That's basically what _I _said! What part of that did you not understand coming from me?!"

"When you say stuff you have that cute little faint Russian accent and I can't concentrate," he told me, smirking goofily. I tried not to 'aww' for the sake of being mushy, so I punched him in the arm. "Me too . . . I promised them I would hand Ethan over so they wouldn't end me . . ."

"They got to you?" I asked, outraged. Those two were _lucky_ they were dead.

"But he didn't do anything!" Sarah protested, equally outraged, though for a different reason. "Eva, you said they were attacked by a smelly, green mist?" I nodded, putting my hands in my jacket's pockets.

"Smelly, green mist?" a voice further away repeated. I craned my head. Right on time, Rory and Rose showed up. "Did Ethan's mom make tacos again? By the way, is he here? The Council wants us to 'bring him to justice.' Wherever that is . . ."

I rolled my eyes, about to talk about the mist again when someone did it for me.

"It's true, there was a green mist! I saw it."

"That's Ethan, but I don't see him," Sarah said.

"I'm right here," he said again.

I looked around, wondering where he could be.

"Whoa. Do you know what this means? I've perfected the invisibility spell without even trying!" Benny concluded. I rolled my eyes again, a constant habit I had whilst around him.

"Or he's in that locker," I suggested, leaning on the one I heard the noise strongest from. He frowned, giving me a dead look. I smiled, turning to face the locker. I jammed my knee into the metal, hearing an 'ow!' as a response. I grinned victoriously.

"Yes, Eva, I'm in the locker," Ethan said through it. "If the vamps come for me here in school, at least I've got backup."

"You can count on me!" Rory beamed, hitting the locker, getting another 'ow!' "After I bring you to justice. Do you know if that's around here?"

"Not the place, sweetie," Rose cooed, rubbing his arm.

A sigh. "I can't help you, Rory. I need time to prove I'm innocent. But the halls are full of fangs."

"Those aren't real vamps. It's Dusk Day at WC High, in honor of Erica's new pet movie star." Oh yeah, I had heard of that Dirk guy at school, I was just too unbothered to care. If it was Paul Wesley or Ian Somerhalder (or any man who ever starred/guest-starred on The Vampire Diaries), on the other hand, I would go all out. Yes, I was still into TVD, get over it.

She leaned in closer to the locker. "Gotta go, just sit tight and don't let the vampires bite," she advised.

"Same to you," he said. "Bite your tongue, not their face!" Looking around, Rory and Rose had disappeared, unsprisingly.

I saw her smile as she walked off, sensing a bit of chemistry between them. But I wouldn't say anything, though. I needed more evidence. I crossed my arms whilst I was leaning against the locker.

"'Kay, so, Locker Boy," said Benny, though I couldn't tell if he was being biting or light-hearted, "I get beat up all day because they blame you, and you blame a green mist, and I bet the mist blames the unicorns, and—"

"The mist's real," I insisted. "Would I lie to you?" He crossed his arms, looking down at me seriously. "I mean, you know, would I lie about something like this? Not something like your shirt or your hair."

"Yeah, it was almost alive. And, it had a smell . . . it kind of smelt like . . . evil," Ethan added.

Okay, not my description of the mist, more like rotten eggs or burning rubber, but okay, 'evil' would have to do for the long run. Rotten eggs and burning rubber fell on the category of evil things, I guess.

"Evil? Okay, now I'm intrigued." He wore a no-good grin. "Bust open the locker, Xena."

"_Excuse_ me?" I asked.

"You heard me. You're my warrior princess, now rip open the locker."

I simply broke off combination lock the locker, then opened the locker. Ethan was jammed in there good. "Okay, this is gonna take a while. Good thing it's last period and I have a free."

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

"Wonder if any of these are familiar . . ."

After I pried Ethan out of the locker and attempted to fix the damage so I wouldn't get, you know, suspended, Ben found an empty classroom to do 'smell-sampling' in. He had some weird spices and stuff that he may or may not have stolen from his grandma and wanted to see if either of us could identify the smell to the smell of the mist, therefore recognizing the energy or magical context of the mist, whether it was dark magic or regular magic that conjured it up or just some weird anti-vampire gas leak at school. And having advanced sense of smell was the downside to this whole experiment. I smelt the stuff _before _Benny took it out.

There were three jars, and to me, they all smelt bad. I made Ethan go first because I was coughing.

"Here, try this one." Ethan took the first jar, twisted it open and smelt it, gagging almost immediately after.

"Ugh. Smells like bacon and gym socks," he observed. He gestured it to me.

I shook my head, pushing it aside. "Hell no. I have a pretty good whiff from over here, thanks."

"Impressive," Benny said, taking the jar. "Here, try this."

The next was a close second. According to Benny it was sulfur, aka 'broomstone,' (I barely understood magic as it was, all these terms just drove me nuts), which was associated with black magic.

"Told you guys it smelt like rotten eggs," I said, not sure of why I was being arrogant towards something like _that__._

"Black magic it is!"

"This mist is about to get de-mistified!" Ethan chimed.

"There we go, high five!" The three of us joined in on a group high-five, and I had to admit, I was a little excited on the breakthrough. At least we knew what we were up against, right? "Woo!"

I smelt my hand, cringing. "Ugh, did you spill some of that on your hand?"

"Nah, I just scratched my butt," Benny said nonchalantly, getting up. "You coming?"

I stared at him. "It's amazing how disgusting you are and how I manage to love you anyway," I said, taking my bag and tucking my borrowed chair underneath a desk.

He scoffed. "It's because you love me no matter what." He tried to put his arm around me, but I flinched, moving away. "Oh come _on_. It's a humane thing to do! I'm sure you do it."

"You wouldn't know if I did it, because I wash my hands," I countered, going towards my locker. I smelt my hand again, just 'cause. I shuddered, cracking my lock and opening my locker.

"You didn't say _no__,_" he sang.

I snorted. "You're being immature." I packed my books up and took my sunglasses out from the little magnetic compartment hanging on my door. "Anyway, call me if anything goes wrong? I have to attend to something."

"'Attend to something'?"

I left him puzzled like that, just kissing his cheek and walking away. (Well, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands first.) Once I was outside of school, I tried to get ahold of Rose on my phone, but she wasn't answering, no surprise. That left me standing in the shade of a tree mumbling curses. I heard footsteps coming toward me. I looked up hesitantly. Two _more _guys I knew from the Council. I didn't turn them, we just used to be close.

"Why can't you guys just leave me alone?" I inquired, putting my phone away. "I've stayed out your way for two-hundred years, can't you do the same for me?"

They exchanged glances, smiling. Trevor, who had curly brown hair and dark eyes, crossed his arms, looking awfully smug. "We just can't get enough of you," he taunted, trying to come near me and touch my waist. I hissed at him, shoving his hand toward him. He hissed back. "Well, you aren't fun anymore."

"I'm in a committed relationship," I said.

"With a _human_," Isaac, the other guy with the strawberry-blond, scruffy hair and blue eyes, said. "You know our rules about human-vampire relationships, Eva. Either they don't happen or the human ends up getting turned. You should know better."

"I don't have time for this." I pushed through them, starting to walk home, but they grabbed my shoulders securely. I groaned, shaking my head mournfully.

"The faster we take care of this, the less likely you're to be hurt," Trevor told me.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

I was taken to a remote church or lodge on the opposite side of town. Obviously the Council had moved their haunt since the last I saw them, which was 1992, an all-vampire New Years party I was invited to. I didn't talk to them though, we just exchanged meaningful, hateful glances at one another and went about our own business. Twenty years later, the last thing I expected was to meet up with them for an overdue reunion.

Isaac had taken my phone and I was told to sit in a chair before the Council arrived to sit in front of me in their panel. Waiting was just antagonizing. It forced me to look around the place and see if anything was similar to the old meeting place, which was an abandoned chapel in France. Same kind of structure and decorations: the main hall led to a foyer which was off-limits, a 'break room' so to say next to that, a few discussion rooms upstairs, and many other rooms I didn't get to catch a glimpse of while I was hostage. The guys led me to a discussion room that looked like a courtroom in the basement. That was where I was now. There were old candelabrum scattered around, but that was it. Nothing was really pleasing to the eye except the old portraits of notorious vampires in history (no, not Dracula, but more commonly known by the vampire community and not told in myths by humans).

The Council filed in one by one. There were four board members now. Three men who looked like they were turned middle-aged and Anastasia, a young girl who was the offspring of a former Council leader's human sister. When she turned twelve in 1439, she and her mother were turned. Before I rose in power in the Council, I was practically her babysitter. So, she was a little version of me, in a way.

They took their seats. I wasn't surprised that Anastasia was head vampire on the Council, though I wondered what happened to her mother.

"What a pleasant surprise," Anastasia said, smiling a fanged smile. "When I called for witnesses towards Sarah's trial, I didn't expect to see you, Eva. You affiliate yourself with vampires like that now? I hear what happened with Jesse, both times, but I didn't think you'd hit rock-bottom."

I growled, but paused in thought. "What do you know about that?"

"He betrayed you while you two were supposedly 'taking back your town,' then months later he returned, and the two of you fought in which he beat you. It only proves how weak you've gotten." I snarled, glaring at her. She laughed. "Relax. I'm not finished. Then, while he tried to escape, we caught him, put him on a similar trial, and banished him to the outskirts of town in the woods. Nothing to worry about."

Banished? Huh. Such a fluffy-bunny punishment.

"While we wait for Sarah to show up, why don't we catch up?" she continued.

I rolled my eyes. "What is there to catch up on?"

"You've changed; I've changed. We need to discuss, don't we?" I remained stone-faced. She chuckled again. "Okay. You got me. We have more private matters to discuss after the trial. But it should be short." I tried not to show any distress. I would reach for my phone but they nabbed it. "Please, have a seat in the jury while we wait. Make yourself comfortable."

It took four minutes precisely for Sarah to come, and although she had questions as to why I was there, I told her to just go through with the trial while I backed her up.

"You show no allegiance to your kind," Anton, Anastasia's secondhand, said, looking like he was in utter shock and outrage. "You forthright your rights and protections by _willfully _conspiring—"

"Who cares who I conspire with?" Sarah interrupted. "My friends aren't your problem. You're the ones who need their protection."

I saw Erica walk in with some guy. I assumed it was 'Jakeward' from Dusk, but I could really care less. As long as they didn't elope or anything, I'd be fine with it. I got up from my seat to join them in front of the panel, bored and tired of 'waiting and being patient.'

"Give her a break," Erica said. "So she doesn't come to meetings? She's never been much of a joiner. She even quit the Dusk fan club and _I _was president."

"Your best friend did that? No_ way_," the guy said.

"Sorry, sweetie, but it's true. Now pipe down before you get eaten." She got back on her train of thought. "Sarah's always done her own thing. Sometimes she's not even _any _fun. But she's my friend. She's one of us now, and she's no _threat_ to us."

"Yeah," I added in, unsure of what to say. Hey, we were friends, but I wasn't the best at this sort of stuff. Usually I was crushing self-esteem, despite how well I knew that it wasn't the best thing to do. "When we first met, we had a falling out . . . followed by another . . . and _another_, come to think of it . . ." Sarah cleared her throat. "Oh. Right. And we weren't exactly on _great _terms, but as the months moved by, we, uh, united through a common issue: we were both manipulated by Jesse, and I think that's made us stronger . . ." I felt her hand come in mine. I tried not to smile. "Point is, she's my friend, too. She's harmless."

"You may not be a threat," Anastasia said, "but your little stake-wielding friends are." She got up, coming around the table and stopping in front of us. "Deliver them to us as a sign of loyalty, or, if you'd rather side with them, you can accept our punishment on their behalf. But we will have blood: yours or theirs."

"So come and get it, princess, because I've been itching for a fight all day." I was reluctant to hold Sarah back. I mean, would it really be a bad thing? Then again, every vampire present (with the exclusion of Erica) was older than her, so it wasn't a fair fight. I gripped her shoulder, giving her a hard glance.

"Let her go!" I turned behind me. The voice belonged to Ethan, and he was walking in with the boys equipped and ready. I groaned, already worried for their safety. "I'm the one you want."

"I got this, why are you here?!"

"I'm trying to protect you."

"Well, _I was _trying to protect _you_."

"Well, we're protecting you, too," Benny said. He looked at me. "And you."

"You didn't even know I was here," I pointed out.

"Yes I did. Boyfriend, uh, instincts."

"Look, I didn't _touch _your friends," Ethan said defiantly. "They were attacked by a spell called the Breath of Death."

"Yeah, pretty scary right?" I rolled my eyes again. "But what matters is we can stop it."

"True!" Rory chimed in. "They made me go in a jar!" I turned around in confusion, mouthing 'what?'

"Quiet!" Anastasia shouted, annoyed. "Perhaps we owe these boys a chance to prove their innocence."

"That's very reasonable, thank you," Ethan said in response.

"I move the mortals to be devoured _now._" She turned to walk back to her seat. As outrage erupted behind me, my patience collapsed and before I could control my impulses, I was in front of her, my hand on her chest, blocking her from moving any further.

"You ought to take that back," I said. "Unlike anyone here, I'm not afraid of the consequences of taking you out." Not a complete lie, but I kind of valued my life more now because it was mortal. She remained composed. Two of the flunkies in the back of the room sped to me and took me away from her and back by my friends. I growled at them, fixing my jacket.

"If the attacks continue after you're gone, then I guess you _were _innocent! Seems fair enough."

"I totally disagree with that assessment!" protested Benny.

"I guess I got my orientation after all," Sarah said. "You taught me when we to control myself, and when not to." Tired of holding her back, I let her step forward, but luckily Ethan took my job.

"Sarah, wait!" he told her. He addressed the Council. "You call yourself a council? Don't you have to have to take a vote?!"

"Fine." I was more than 90 percent sure that Anastasia could care less and knew that either way, she would have all of our blood on her hands. I was prepared to take on a fight though. Nobody messed with my friends, let alone me. "All in favor, show of hands." One by one they began to raise their hands mercilessly. But when it got to Anton, his eyes were lit up green and the smell was back. _Shit._

He attempted to strangle Anastasia, who tried to fend him off. I tried to think of a quick strategy, but the boys had a different plan. Apparently there was something that could enclose the mist in a container. I really didn't have time to question them in the midst of all the confusion and hustling. Soon enough, Ethan had this can in his hand and had stepped in front of us, waving it in front of a possessed Anton, who was somehow attracted to it. He crawled over the panel's table and went after Ethan, who fell to the ground. The mist left Anton unconscious and went towards Ethan.

"Dude, that's bad . . ." Benny said. ". . . and gross."

"What's happening?" I asked him.

Sarah kneeled down to help him. "Ethan, are you okay?" she asked.

Before he could respond, the mist entered him, using him as a vessel to attack Sarah.

"Destroy him! We command it!" Anastasia ordered.

"Where's the witch bottle?" Benny asked in panic. I gestured to the floor. I bent down and helped him put the contents in the jar, keeping my disgust to myself, knowing that I was touching things that were covered in Rory's pee. Hey, it was for the cause, so I'd take one for the team, okay? I just had to wash my hands throughly with holy water afterward.

"Eves," he told me. "It still needs something, do you mind?"

"Wha—" He yanked a strand of my hair and put it in the bottle. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" He turned to the brawl going on, reciting a spell. The mist slowly came out of Ethan, while he was groaning and moaning in distress, and went into the bottle. He closed the lid tightly. "Gotcha. Anti-vampire mist, anyone?"

"Still mad at me for defending the mortals who just saved your life?" Sarah asked smugly.

"Erica was right," Anastasia said. "You _are_ no fun. Fine. You're free to go, except for one." I sighed, stepping forward. Mysterious unfinished business to attend to. Right.

"Why does she have to stay?" Benny questioned, taking my hand.

"It's fine," I whispered. "I should be out in a second."

"I'm not leaving you with them."

"All right, _he _can stay," Anastasia said. Her eyes shot to rest of the group. "The rest of you leave. Do not make me repeat myself."

Everyone else reluctantly left, right after Anastasia remembered that she wanted the Dusk guy's autograph, which was awkward. Once everyone was gone, I waited for the oh-so important point that needed to be brought up.

"This is exactly one of the things that needs to be addressed," she said, sitting back down. "This . . . _relationship_. Do you realize how much you put us at risk by dating this human? What is he supposed to mean to you? His blood is something that can keep you alive another week," she said to me. She turned to him. "Do you think of how she can tear your head off at the exact moment she's kissing your neck? Is that _comforting_? It's ludicrous!"

"What's ludicrous is how you people tend to mind business that isn't yours," I said.

"_Excuse _me?"

"You heard me. I don't see why our relationship is a threat. He's not just human, he's supernatural, too. So technically, I'm not dating a human. Secondly, my private life shouldn't concern you. A handful of the people we know know about what we're capable of and that we're together, and they're fine with that. They know I wouldn't hurt him."

Anastasia looked furious. Her eyes sparked gold. "Do you know how many people she's killed? How many innocents have died at her hand? How much blood she's consumed in the past five centuries? Her mentor was practically a vampire criminal! She's a ruthless monster, just like the rest of us. And I suppose you just_ signed up_ for the challenge?"

"Yeah," Benny said flatly. "I know she's dangerous, but she's got it under control. She's done bad things, but she wants to improve herself, and I'm willing to help her out." His arm was around my waist. I looked at him, smiling like an idiot.

I looked back at the Council. "If you want to go on and on about this, fine. Just know that we don't care."

She growled. "Your choice puts us in a difficult position, Eva. It cancels out our proposition for you. Wasted potential." I shrugged. "Fine. Have your way. Just know that we'll be watching you closely. And know that your friend's life is in our hands."

"Which one?" Ben asked nervously.

"The witch." My eyes went wide. I went ballistic. I went over the Council table like an animal, grabbing Anastasia. I would've taken a bite out of her if it wasn't for the flunkies and Benny. He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me over the table while the flunkies made sure Anastasia was okay.

"_What did you do to her?!_" I screamed. "_Tell me!_"

"Nothing, yet. Our watchers saw the two of you talking earlier today, then later, after Trevor and Isaac escorted you to the lodge, they saw her unconscious outside of your school. She wasn't dead, simply in a coma." I put my hand on my mouth, too stunned to say anything else. "They emitted her to the local hospital, but we can still make sure she suffers if you don't watch your place."

"_Fuck _you," I said quietly.

"Come on, let's go," Benny said, turning me around. I shut my eyes, leaving with him. The only thing I could think about was how much the person who put Rose in the coma would regret it when I found out who they were.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath<strong>_


	3. Thick Crystal Skulls

**A/N: Oh my God people actually read it! Haha, I didn't think anyone would because of the two-year hiatus of the show, but thanks so much guys! I'm so glad you enjoyed the first chapter. I promise the second will be just as good! Hopefully the rest of the story will follow on that note, hehe. **

**A note about Eva and Stern - technically, as my memory on the show serves (and it's kinda bleak so bear with me) it was Stern's _grandfather _(possibly) who used the Lucifractor to destroy the vampires in the 1800s, not himself. That's why I wrote that part about Christian in the last chapter of TDM, that and because I never heard his grandfather's name because of my crap hearing. I'm sticking with Christian xD**

**So yeah, thanks for reading! Hope you like the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own MBaV, obviously.**

* * *

><p><em>II. Thick Crystal Skulls<em>

_S2E2: Say You'll Be Maztak_

A few days had went by since the Council episode. All of us had taken time out of our plans to visit Rose in the hospital, just to see her progress. Still in the coma, and no one was sure of the cause. We had come up with theories. Since she was clumsy, Ethan thought she must've ran into a tree and hit her head too hard, although the only flaw in that would be that she would've had cuts or bruises on her forehead. I said that she put a spell on herself by accident again. Benny was the one to come up with the absurd theory that she 'left her body so that her soul could explore the astral plane.' Hearing that, we were more sure than he was the one who got knocked in the head rather than Rose.

I went with Rory to the hospital nearly everyday after school and it was kind of sad to see him sit by her bed and talk to her like she could listen. He told her about his day and his feeding misadventures and his parents and how they hoped she was okay, too. I wanted beat myself about how much of a bad friend was for leaving her alone, but I knew that she wouldn't want me to do that. I just had to embody her former can-do, optimistic attitude and pray that I'd find the bottom of this before Christmas.

If I'd be alive by then. When her aunt found out I'd be good as dead.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

On Tuesday, I was surprised to hear that Mr. G was out and that were was a history sub. The man had never missed a day of school in his entire teaching career, and the absence was random. However, I had no problem with a free period, so I decided to push my thoughts aside and get my assignment from the sub, since I had no one else in my grade whom I trusted or knew well. And besides, I already knew that we weren't going to have any notes to write for him, so I was off the hook.

I casually walked into the classroom to see a beautiful woman who looked Central or South American, with long dark hair and a weird choice in clothing. There was a glass skull on the desk. But somehow, she captured her _all-boys _class's attention with her strange tongue and the symbols she was drawing on the blackboard. _Nothing _suspicious here.

"Um, hello?" I asked. She turned to me. "Who are you?"

"I am Miss Lucia. I may ask you the same."

"Eva. I'm in Period C World. I need the assignment."

"Maidens have no use here. Be gone."

I laughed. "What?"

"Leave, _Eva._ I have no use for you. I must train my young warriors."

I looked at the class. Hell, even Benny was absorbed in this lady's shit. "You think _they _can be _warriors_? He can't even open a tub of mayo by himself!" I shouted, pointing at him.

Her eyes flashed ember, but not in a vampire way. Something else. "Do not make me repeat myself."

I huffed, turning and leaving. At least I had no homework.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

One by one girls who tried to get into class were turned away, but a good majority of them were more than ecstatic that they had no class. I was bored, so I just hung around in the area for a while, waiting for the bell to ring. There wasn't much to do. Just listen into people's intimate conversations and learn their secrets, but they were useless to me, since I didn't have a clue as to who those people were. So I simply forgot them.

Sarah and Erica swung by and faced the same fate as me and every other girl.

"You guys got turned away by Her Majesty, too?" I asked, looking up from where I was sitting on the floor.

"Yeah. It was weird . . ." Sarah said.

"Next time I'll turn that sub into a sandwich," Erica growled. With that she walked off, probably plotting her revenge for later. I should've been doing the same, but I wasn't really up for it right now.

"It's freaky in there," I said, walking with Sarah. "No trace of human life anywhere; just plain idiocy. Every boy in there was gawking over the woman."

"I'm sure it'll be over soon. It's typical boy behavior. Pretty girl equals instant attention grabber. They'll be over her by lunch."

Well, lunch didn't come yet but after class they were still pretty hooked on her. It was nauseating. In between classes I regrouped with the girls again to find my traitor of a boyfriend with Ethan.

"You girls have any bloodstone?" Benny asked eagerly. "It sounds vampirey."

"All out of bloodstone, but I can make you bleed with a rock," I snapped.

"So, your freaky sub gives you freaky homework, and you're not _freaked_?" Sarah asked.

"Hot teacher, frozen brain. Done!" Erica mocked.

"My brain is not frozen, I just . . ." Ethan stopped mid-sentence as Miss Lucia walked by, mesmerized by her. Benny was, too, telling from how he just flat-out left to go follow her. "I just have to find . . . frog hearts . . . yeah." He left.

"What the hell," I murmured.

"Am I nuts? Or did we just get _blown off _by _nerds_?" Erica asked, glowering after them. I shared her frustration, crossing my arms and glaring down the hall.

"Something messed up is going on," Sarah agreed.

"Whether it's messed up or not, it's gonna end with a rude awakening," I said. "I'm gonna do what I do best."

"Stalk and snoop around?"

"Exactly. Eva's back, bitches." Yup. I was embodying Rose's can-do attitude . . . in a vengeful, sick way . . . but I was still determined and high-spirited, so that counted, right?

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

I followed Miss Lucia back to Mr. G's classroom, where other guys were moving desks out the way. The teacher's desk was being prepped or something, like an altar. Miss Lucia had the glass skull from earlier in her hands, looking into it intensely. Not only did she have weird fashion sense, she had freaky taste in nicknacks, too.

I pretended to be minding my business when Principal Hicks came to the class, walking straight up to Miss Lucia. I used my heightened hearing to listen in.

"Who are you? Who authorized you to make a desk fort?" he inquired.

"Mind your tone when addressing Lucia," she said. "I have come to return the world to endless light." I jerked my head back, narrowing my eyes. 'Return the world to endless light?'

"Ohh. I see . . . you're crazy . . . cuckoo . . . your deck is less than full . . ." I snickered. Miss Lucia put her hand on Hicks' shoulder, looking deeply into his eyes. Her eyes flashed that weird ember-gold again and a random gust of wind passed through her hair. She leaned in, then out, like she whispered something in Hicks' ear. "As you command, my queen."

My jaw slacked. "Crazy-ass complusion . . ." I whispered. I was startled when the door opened. The girls had walked in.

"Ugh. What is _she _still doing here?" Sarah said, exasperated. "Don't tell me she's subbing for our class, too."

"She's not even all that hot," Erica added. Miss Lucia turned around. "Okay, fine. She's a goddess. But I can still hate her."

"Lucia is a queen," Hicks stressed. "She's not a goddess."

"I told you maidens: go," she said darkly.

"So, you _want _us to skip class?" Sarah asked, arms folded. Erica had no problem. She was already out the door. "Principal Hicks, are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Lucia is my queen. I am her throne." He got down on his knees. "Please, be seated my queen."

"Excellent," Lucia said. She sat delicately on top of him. I was bug-eyed.

"Okay . . ." Sarah hesitantly walked out, still staring at her.

I slipped out the room whilst the door was closing. I still didn't know what kind of freaky shit was going on, but believe me, I was getting to the bottom of it. It all didn't make sense.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

I played stakeout outside Mr. G's classroom for the remainder of the day. I know, I had to go to class, but that was nothing glamour couldn't fix the next day. Boys came flocking to the class bringing weird objects like the bloodstone aforementioned and grass and flowers and guts and it was absurd. Luckily, I managed to corner Benny when I saw him coming to class.

"Stop," I said, my hand blocking him from entering. "What the hell's going on? You've been ignoring me all day."

"Eves, I'm sorry, but Miss Lucia needs me, all right?" he said.

"Look. You know I'm not the cliche, petty girlfriend type, but _I _need you, too."

"I can't right now. I'm busy." He gestured to the rank-smelling bag and the wildflowers in his hands. He was about to walk off, but I grabbed his wrist, reeling him back in. "Eva, let go!"

"Not until you tell me what's going on, Benny!"

He snatched his hand away. "Miss Lucia _needs _me. She's so beautiful . . . no wonder you're jealous." I stared at him, jaw-dropped. "Maybe because you're so jealous, that's why you're so needy."

"You know what? When you've got your head out of the clouds, come find me, asshole!" I screamed. I stormed off, deciding that this wasn't worth my time.

The rest of the day went by slow. It seemed to be getting hotter and hotter by the minute, and the new mortal _perk _of sweat was getting to me, so it forced me to changed into a tank top. I hadn't spoken to Benny since the confrontation. I wondered if I should've apologized, but then I remembered that I wasn't the one acting like a lunatic . . . well, a testosterone-fueled lunatic anyway. I couldn't believe he said something as stupid as Miss Lucia being hotter than me. Psft. Was it her accent? 'Cause I had an accent . . . sort of . . . faintly. Okay, so what, she was gorgeous? I was, um . . . what was I?

I held my books close to my chest, trying not to feel down about what happened. All of a sudden, a battalion of shirtless guys with sun symbols on their chests came down the stairs chanting. Mr. G was one of them, which I took as a sign that he had no problem that his class was under new management. Miss Lucia, no shock, was leading them. I didn't bother to tune into what they were saying, so their mysterious conversations came and went just like them. All of them filed outside.

"None of this makes sense," I murmured to myself.

I determined that one more visit to the classroom wouldn't kill me. When a got there, it seemed that the girls and I had the same idea.

"Okay! Where's what's-her-face?" Erica asked.

"The queen awaits the Sun King's return," Ben said cryptically.

"I'm going to be the chosen one!" Rory added.

"Okay, whatever," I said, crossing my arms. "I'm done asking questions. We're not leaving without smashing something."

"Well, she seems to like that skull," Sarah suggested.

"We will die in defense of the sacred skull!" Ethan stressed passionately. I raised my eyebrow. "Especially Rory." He seemed to agree.

"Whateves," Erica said nonchalantly.

We stepped forward, but the boys had their fists up, like they would really attack us. I mean, we'd totally pretzel them in a minute, but it was still weird.

"Wait! They seem to be under a spell," Sarah told us. "We need to retreat and come up with a better plan." I rolled my eyes. Erica hissed at them. They flinched, but then remained positioned the way they were. They started chanting in another language. "Okay, if it's not a spell, this is the worst glee club ever."

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

'Retreat and come up with a better plan' translated to running to the Morgans' house and watching TV. The news was on, and it somewhat explained why it was getting so hot all of a sudden.

"Now there are some folks, like my wife, who are worried about reports from certain scientists about a visually swollen solar corona, or sun, that may melt the entire planet," a very perky weatherman said on TV. "But there's no need to panic, because this just means we're gonna have a doozy of a sunset tonight, at the Hour of Judgement. All hail the Sun King. Am I right, Miss Lucia?"

"Yes." Unbelievable. The woman was everywhere. "The altar is ready. The ceremony soon begins. Prepare to welcome the Sun King. Back to you, Vince."

He chuckled, adjusting his collar. "Wowza."

"Sounds like the Hour of Judgement is tonight at sundown," Sarah said. "And if we don't act fast, the sun's going to take out our friends and your boyfriend with it."

"Sooo, what do you suggest we do?"

She did what I feared: called in the professionals, aka Benny's grandmother. Now, it's not that I didn't like her. _She _didn't like _me. _Or at least I thought she didn't. She made it seem like she didn't. Every time I would come by the house she would hesitate to let me in. That's why we always hung out at my house.

"I'm glad you called me," she said. We relocated to Ethan's room since the sun was coming through the windows in the living room too brightly. I may have been somewhat immune to the sun, but it was only for a period of time. Fifteen, thirty minutes tops. Now I was guaranteed to burn as soon as I stepped outside.

"I figured we needed to come up with a plan like Ethan and Benny would," Sarah said.

"Then give up, call you, like Ethan and Benny would," Erica added.

I remained silent for a change, sitting in the computer chair, listening in.

"Lucia is an ancient Maztak name. Now the Maztaks were pretty big on gold and animal hearts, too, look." The old lady gestured to her book.

"The Sun King and the Sky Queen created the Earth together, but an argument between the two brought eternal night to the world," Sarah read.

"Too bad they didn't have couples' counseling," Erica joked. Grandma seemed amused.

"Prophets say that one day a queen will make an offering so pleasing the Sun King will return to the Earth in an explosion of light that will _end the mortal world_?"

"Least I won't have to finish that essay. _Yay_!"

"Lucia made the boys build an altar at school. She said the Hour of Judgement was tonight at sundown."

"Well, what are you doing yammering with an old lady?" Grandma asked. "It's up to you girls to save the world!"

"Grandma's right," Sarah said, getting up from the bed quickly. "It's girl power or nothing. We need to get our geek on and come up with a plan _fast_."

Jane, who must have overheard everything from the hall, came in excited. "Yay!" she beamed.

"She said girl power, not little girl power," Erica said.

"Boo," she deadpanned.

The girls went over the bookshelf as I watched Grandma pack up and get ready to leave. She eyed me. I quickly looked down, pretending to be interested with my jeans. Well, they _were _pretty interesting. They were light blue with—

"Eva," she said. My name alone coming from her concealed my doom. "Can I speak to you for a minute? Out in the hall?"

"Sure." I got up slowly, nervously glancing back at the girls in the corner of the room. They smiled supportively. Yeah, definitely doomed.

Biting my lip as she shut the door behind us, I slipped my hands behind my back as she faced me. She frightened me, okay? The big, bad Badica was afraid of an elderly lady who was a badass at magic.

"What do you, uh, want to talk about?" I asked unsurely.

She sighed. "I heard about what you did the night of the dance." I almost gasped. I mean, it wasn't surprising that Benny would slip under pressure from his grandma and tell her, but still, it was a pretty dramatic moment. "Now, I know you feel like I don't like you. That's far from the case. I don't like the things you've done. However, there are times where I have to remember that five-hundred plus years ago, you were a girl who lived a simple life before getting caught up in this supernatural mess. I'm not cutting you slack for killing people or tricking innocents or anything like that, but prove to me that you're not going to any of the sort to my grandson."

I smiled uncharacteristically shyly. "I'll try."

She rubbed my shoulder. "Start with this: get in there, devise a plan, get him back." I nodded. It was really the first real time she smiled at me, honestly.

Smiling, I walked back into the room in the midst of plan-making, so of course, I had no idea what I was going on.

"Right! Her crystal skull!" Sarah shouted. "I bet that's her power source. Check this out. The Sun's rays are lighting up the skull."

"So what?" Erica asked. I went over to them, peering at the book curiously.

"_So _what happened in the original myth? Why did the Sun and the Earth split up in the first place?"

"Uh, long-distance relationships never work out?" Jane giggled in amusement.

"They spilt because the moon goddess came between them."

"Let's go ahead and give the moon goddess a call, then," I said sarcastically. "Got her cell number?"

"Maybe we don't need the actual moon, just something that will channel the Moon's energy."

"Well," Jane said, "maybe I'm just a little girl, but I know a big geek who paid six-months' allowance to buy moonstones online. He even sleeps with them under his pillow."

"You _devious_ little girl," I told her, going by her. "I'm so proud."

She laughed. "Oh, stop it."

Erica had marched over to the bed to find the moonstones but instead found tidy-whites. She shrieked, throwing them. "Great! Now I'm going to have to chew off this hand!" she complained.

Sarah went in for a second try and found them no problem. "Let's go," she said.

"Wait, don't we need like a _solid _plan?" I asked, going after her. "We go out there, we burn to ashes. Who's gonna save them then?" I rubbed my chin, thinking of something quick. "Pit stop at my house, I have an idea. And you'll like it, Er, it involves accessorizing."

"At least this time I have permission to go in your closest, Evie," she beamed, linking her arm with mine. I winced at the nickname I thought had disappeared, but smiled, remembering how much I missed it.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

"Everything looks so tight," Sarah commented, picking up a pair of my leggings.

"Just find something that looks like it'll protect you," I said, picking up a red leather jacket. I slipped it on, humming.

"Hey, I was eyeing that!" Erica said.

"Well, it _is _mine, so . . ." I tossed her a similar one but in black. With a grumpy face she put it on.

I had to confess, I was a huge fan of anything leather and sexy, so that was what most of my closet was compose of. 76 percent black and leather, 10 percent other, 14 percent things I had collected over the centuries. All of it came in handy in situations like these. Once we were dressed suitable, we were off on our 'mission,' so to speak. We had gotten ahold of motorcyclist helmets to protect over faces from the Sun, black paint to block out the Sun's light in the windows, and we ran to the school, since flying would guarantee insta-scorch, no matter how much clothes we had on. We made it in good timing, I suppose.

"We've got our moon-rocks and black paint for the windows," Sarah said, spot-checking.

"Guys, we're risking our lives over some flimsy plan based on one old legend," Erica said out of nowhere. That kind of talk could've been acceptable back at the house, but not when we were about to kick ass Charlie's Angels-style.

"She's got our friends," I spoke up. "And, she cost me valuable make-out time today. She's gonna pay."

"_Ewww_," the girls said in unison.

"He may be a geek to you guys but in my eyes he's perfection," I said, smirking. "Okay, _somewhat _perfection. Point is, Lucia's going down."

The ground began to shake. I caught my balance, impressive considering I was wearing heels.

"Time to dethrone a queen," Sarah said. We put down our visors and splashed the paint on the windows. We abandoned the buckets and zoomed inside the school.

"Who dares defy the Sun King's scared temple?!" Lucia demanded.

We walked in like bosses, and I wasn't trying to be goofy about it. One by one we filed in, helmets still on ominously. 'Who are they?' one would ponder. 'Why are they masked?' another would wonder. We stood next to one another and took off our helmets simultaneously, whipping our hair out, fanged and ready to fight.

"The weather girls are here with an updated forecast," Sarah said.

"Yeah. Cloudy, with a hundred percent chance of butt-kicking," Erica chimed in.

"Dammit, I wanted to say a cool line," I whispered.

"You already have the cool red leather jacket."

"Warriors, attack!" Lucia commanded.

We ditched our helmets and went in. It wasn't a problem, a bunch of scrawny sophomore boys, really. This guy came at me, saying that 'Praise the Sun King' line, charging at me.

"Praise my foot," I said. I jammed it up his crotch, leaving him to falter and fall back. His two friends marched up to me. Remembering that I couldn't _kill _them because according to Grandma W I was supposed to be on my best behavior, I took their arms and swung-pushed them across the room, praying that there wasn't any serious head-injury involved.

Lucia managed to lift a chair and smash one window, letting the light back in the room. Deciding to focus on her later, I got ready to face to next boy. Lucky me. It was Benny.

"You look hot," he said. "It's a shame I'm going to have destroy you."

"You seriously owe me," I said. He raised his hand to hit me, but I stopped it, using the advantage to nail him in the forehead with the moonstone. Purple light shone from it and he jerked back, dazed. I smiled, blowing it off like it was a gun.

I barely noticed what was going on by the altar. Lucia was using the Sun's rays, channeling the power through her crystal skull to, uh, what's the word? Okay, I didn't have a clue as to what she was doing, all I knew was that the rays were being projected on Ethan's chest whilst he was strapped to the altar and he was whaling out in pain.

"Purify the Earth in eternal fire!" she shouted.

"Here's one final offering, from the Moon Goddess!" Sarah cried. She gave Ethan a moonstone who pressed it to Lucia's forehead once he mustered the strength. Her jaw slackened in surprise as the purple light from the stone burned on her head. She stammered back, still clutching onto her skull.

Out of spite, I tripped her. Although she didn't fall and burn how I wanted and imagined her to, it did weaken her further, and she ended up dropping the skull, which resulted in her inevitable destruction, aka disintegrating to ashes.

Pleased, I put my hands on my hips. Ethan was untied, the sun started in dim down outside, and all the guys who were once under the spell were confused at what they were doing at school after hours or why they were all shirtless, and I was considering telling them that they all lived double-lives as male strippers, but that would be inappropriate.

"What happened?" Mr. G asked.

"We saved the world," Sarah said nonchalantly.

"And, we looked pretty amazing while doing it," Erica tacked on with a hair-flip.

I smiled in agreement. "True story," I said.

**.x.X.*.X.x.**

We were forced to accept the inevitable punishment from Mr. G after everyone was back to normal, since he didn't believe our story about Lucia being an ancient Sky Queen and the crystal skull harvesting the Sun's light to destroy the world. Even though the formerly blistering sunlight outside had withered down into just a warm, humid evening climate, I was still at risk for death via sun. A perk with mortality was that I could stay in the sun for a sufficient amount of time, as aforementioned. However, my skin was now _extremely _sensitive, and just a mere sprinkle of holy water or touch of sunlight could result in my whole arm covered in blisters.

That's exactly what happened once I stepped outside. My body from neck-down may have been protected, but my face, since I took off the helmet, wasn't. The sun was setting, but the light still lingered. I covered my eyes, stunned by the light, feeling the burns on my cheeks and smelt the sizzling flesh.

"Hey, Eva!" Shit. Ethan's voice. He didn't know, or at least I _thought _he didn't know. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I turned around quickly so he wouldn't touch me. Getting a vision from me right then could let him see what happened after the dance, and he'd be pissed. Why? I obtained mortality through a spell. He had his nose deep in books and ways to try to find a vampire cure for Sarah. That only made me feel worse. Imagine if he found out. He'd go ballistic.

"Uh . . . something in my eyes," I lied. I uncovered my eyes hesitantly. His eyes didn't go wide or anything, so I guess I healed up nicely. "Yeah. So, uh, you feel all right, _Chosen One_?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but . . . now I'm kinda cold." He shivered, hugging himself. I chuckled. "Do you have a sweater or something? It feels like it's freezing . . ."

"Sorry, I–" Benny came out of the entrance, muttering about something, shuddering. He noticed me watching me and smiled awkwardly. "You mind giving us, uh, one-on-one time?"

Ethan looked back and got the idea. "Sure. I gotta wait for my mom, anyway. I told her I was doing a history project for extra credit."

"Some hell of an extra credit," I laughed, gesturing to the sun symbol on his chest. He smiled, walking away. Benny came up to me, scanning me up and down.

"I wasn't lying when I said you looked hot," he said.

"But Miss Lucia's hotter, right?"

"_Eva._"

"I'm sorry, but that comment earlier kind of hurt," I admitted. "And the whole day you acted like you barely knew me. I know it was all the spell and everything but still . . . I dunno. Pettiness, I guess."

"Extreme pettiness," he agreed. I punched his arm. He flinched. "Eves, you know I love you. You're the most beautiful girl in the world to me, why would you question that?" I shrugged, averting eye-contact. "Hey." I looked up. He was directly in my face now, his somewhat warm hand on my cheek.

"I love you, too." He leaned in to kiss me, but I stopped him by putting my hand on his chest. "Warriors do not seduce their queen. The queen seduces the warrior. And right now, the queen is tired. You shall carry the queen home."

"What the hell, Eva?" I gave him a hard stare. He sighed. "_Queen _Eva."

I smiled. "Better."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath<strong>_


End file.
